The sounds of “sit, stay, roll over” are echoing through subdivisions across the Nashville region, where pools, playgrounds and fitness spas are being joined by the newest in-demand feature — dog parks.

“It’s one of the amenities people want,” said David McGowan, president of Regent Homes.

Home buyers often pick neighborhoods with good schools and easy commutes. Now many are adding dog parks to that list. Off-leash dog parks allow pets to run and play while their owners get to know their neighbors.

“I’ve actually gotten to know a lot of people because they have dogs,” said Cindy Fashing, who purchased a townhome in the Carothers Farms neighborhood in Nolensville in 2017. Regent Homes is the subdivision’s developer.

“It’s funny, sometimes you remember the dog’s name before the person’s,” she said.

Cindy Fashing takes her two dogs, Jordan and Jax, to the neighborhood dog park in Carothers Farms in Nolensville on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019. (Photo11: Shelley Mays / The Tennessean)

Playtime for pooches and people

Fenced and gated dog parks are showing up in new neighborhoods from Sumner County to Spring Hill. Parkside Builders included one in Waterford Village in Hendersonville. In Spring Hill, residents of the new active-adult Southern Springs subdivision were invited for cocktails during “yappy hour” at the dog park. The neighborhood was developed by Del Webb.

The new Stephens Valley neighborhood in Williamson County, where home prices start around $500,000, will have hundreds of acres of open space, a farmers market, swimming pool, tennis courts, playground, a fitness facility, a community garden and a dog park.

Old Hickory Commons, a townhome community off Interstate 24 and Old Hickory Boulevard in Nashville where prices start in the $169,000s, has one, too.

“It’s there by popular demand,” said Trey Lewis, vice president for Ole South, the neighborhood’s developer.

The Jones Co. offers floor plans including a dog grooming station, complete with a shower or bath tub.(Photo11: Courtesy of The Jones Co.)

In Bent Creek, on the Williamson County side of Nolensville, a dog park is part of the master plan. One is planned for Harvest Point, a new affordably priced subdivision on the Maury County side of Spring Hill. Builders in Harvest Point include Regent Homes, Lennar Homes, Celebration Homes, Goodall Homes and The Jones Co.

The Jones Co. includes space for pooches in its home design. The company offers an optional dog nook under the stairs. It also offers a grooming station, complete with a doggie shower or a bath tub.

Cindy Fashing walks her her two dogs, Jordan and Jax, to the neighborhood dog park in Carothers Farms in Nolensville on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019.(Photo11: Shelley Mays / The Tennessean)

Smaller yards drive demand

Even in subdivisions without a dog park, residents can usually find one close by. Scott Shriver owns a home in Ole South’s Heritage Hills neighborhood off Lebanon Road on the Davidson-Wilson county line. He takes his two German shepherds to nearby city dog parks.

“It’s good if you want to socialize your dog. I have a neighbor with dogs and we let them play,” said Shriver.

Dog parks are taking on added importance as neighborhoods become denser and yards get smaller, said Jason Cloud, a Regent Homes manager who directed the establishment of the dog park in Carothers Farms.

“A lot of people don’t want a great big yard with a 3/4-acre lot, but they want a dog,” he said.

Cloud, whose house is across the street from the dog park, has a miniature schnauzer and a Chihuahua. The dog park provides great entertainment for them even when they aren’t there.

“My dogs love to bark at the other dogs. They sit on the couch and bark,” he said.

Living in a neighborhood with a dog park is “an added bonus,” said Fashing, whose yard at Carothers Farms is fenced but too small for her dogs to run and play. She owns two dogs rescued by the Nashville Humane Association, a German shepherd-doberman mix and a German shepherd-greyhound mix.

“There are so many people with dogs. It’s a dog neighborhood,” she said.

Fashing’s dogs, Jordan and Jax, look forward to their games of throw, fetch, repeat.

“I say the words (dog park) and they are just flipping out,” she said.